>
> >
> > This is the second time today that the VI people are playing editosrs
> > wars. This is supposed to be forbidden in this list, even for RedHat
> > persnnel.
> >
> > Please stop this.
>
> geeze, emacs users are so touchy ;)
>
Emacs users are not touchy but Linux activists are.
Now what are the common points between all Unixes:
1) VI is the standard editor
2) They never reached world domination
It is not a coincidence.
In order for a system (be it MacOs, Windows or Linux) getting a large
audience you have to take into account some constraints:
1) Your public is no longer composed of geeks but you have to take
care of those 95% people who are not. And these 95% people will
want a _palatable_ editor.
2) Those 95% people could not care less about editors found in other
Unixes. I know a musician who uses Linux: why in the hell should
he learn VI "because that is the editor common in all Unixes?". He
will never see another Unix in his life.
3) You will have to deal with users who have to care for their boxes
with only minutes of experience. This does not happen in Unix
bevcause the computer is expensive so the user does not own it and
that mean the orgainzation he belongs to will train him and will
have an experienced system administrator caring for the box. But
Linux is unexpensive and that means it can go where Unix never
went. Now if you want to spread it outside ths _small_ Unix ghetto
that means you have to think in the guy with minutes of Unix
experience and living in a lost place in Oklahoma who calls for
support: you can tell him WHAT to do but then there is the problem
of HOW to do it and if that requires editing a file and the only
available editor is VI (or Emacs) he will be unable to fix his
problem
These are a fesw of the reasons why IMHO VI is a an editor to be
provided in order to keep the old guard happy but distributions should
not be built in a such way that VI is the only editor guranteed to be
installed and the only one available when /usr is not mounted: think
in the Oklahoma guy.
VI provided for compatibility yes, yes, yes, but Linux needs his _own_
standard editor given that its present and future user base are quite
different from the user base of classic Unixes. Besides, who wants
for Linux the editor of such losers as Solaris or AIX?
And now I propose anyone wanting to answer sending me private mail.
--
Jean Francois Martinez
Project Independence: Linux for the Masses
http://www.independence.seul.org
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